Billie Holiday was a jazz diva who became the stereotypical victim—unlucky in life, unlucky in love, and dead from drink and drugs at the age of only 44. Billie lived it up with a vengeance, and had a huge appetite for drink, drugs, men and women. She had an affair with actor and director Orson Welles, and also had a number of lesbian affairs—including one with Tallulah Bankhead.

-excerpted from notes on “Reputations: Billie Holiday”, a BBC-TV production (read the rest)